Asian Athletics: India's gold rush continues with Gulveer, Pooja and Nandini on top

LONG-distance runner Gulveer Singh shattered a decade-old meet record, high-jumper Pooja Singh delivered a personal best show, while heptathlete Nandini Agasara rose to the occasion after a setback as the trio added three more gold medals to India's kitty on the penultimate day of the 26th Asian Athletics Championships here on Friday.

- 

The country's overall tally swelled to 18, including eight gold, seven silver and three bronze medals. India look well on course to match or better the 27 medals won in the 2023 edition, having already surpassed the gold haul of six medals in that year.

Gulveer etched his name among the greats of Indian long-distance running by winning a tightly-contested men's 5000m final to add to his 10,000m gold won on the opening day of the competition.

The national-record-holding runner clocked 13:24.77sec to edge past Thailand's Kieran Tuntivate, who finished close behind at 13:24.97sec, while Japan's Nagiya Mori took bronze in 13:25.06sec.

The previous championship record belonged to Qatar's Mohamed Al-Garni, who had clocked 13:34.47sec in the 2015 edition.

Later, 18-year-old Pooja jumped to a personal best of 1.89m in her penultimate attempt to finish ahead of Uzbekistan's Safina Sadullaeva (1.86m).